Cornice moldings are horizontal decorative molding that crown furniture elements, such as a door or window. Window cornices are designed to conceal or decorate the area above a window and may also be used to conceal a curtain rod. However, windows vary greatly in width forcing the industry to recognize the majority of cornices require custom manufacture and/or installation. The manufacture and installation of custom cornices is expensive and time consuming. As a result, the art has developed some cornices that allow for generic manufacture of the cornice. For example, Forkner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,025) developed a cornice having sectional pieces to allow a user to fit the cornice to the width of the window.
Further, the installation can be extremely complicated. A tape measure or some other measuring device is typically used to determine mounting locations for brackets. However, inaccurate placement due to level issues, mistakes in marking a proper hole location or general lack of skill can cause misalignment of the holes drilled with those preexisting in the mounting hardware, resulting in improperly positioned or hung cornices, and damage to the wall.
L-shaped, or right-angle, brackets are typically used to affix the cornice to the window, as seen in Ross (U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,026). The L-shaped bracket is attached to the wall or window and then to the cornice. Before attaching the cornice to the L-shaped bracket the installer must pay particular attention to centering the cornice over the window as well as assuring they are level. In addition, screws are typically used to secure the cornice to the L-Bracket by applying them up underneath the cornice. Due to the heft and bulk of a cornice, placing the cornice on such a bracket and maneuvering a tool inside the cornice housing can result in fatigue, injury, and/or damage to the bracket, wall, and/or cornice. Further, the proper positioning of the cornice during installation can be particularly challenging, resulting in a gap between the wall and cornice.
Another option to hang the cornice is using a piece of wood cut at a 45 degree angle. This piece is attached to the wall or surface with the bevel up. Another complementary piece of wood is cut at an opposing 45 degree angle and attached to the back of the cornice. The cornice may then be hung by interlocking the opposing pieces. The disadvantage is that the cornice will have to be hung above the top edge of the window, a distance of at least the width of the two opposing interlocking pieces plus the thickness of the top piece (strong back) of the cornice. Further, the wooden blocks do not fix the cornice to the wall and allow horizontal movement of the cornice. Such movement is not preferred, as the cornice may be moved from the wall-affixed block, causing the cornice to fall.
The present invention is designed to address the shortcomings of the present art.